• Kurti reacts to Vucic's remarks he will oppose Kosovo’s UN membership (media)
• Lajcak reveals location of next Borrell-Kurti-Vucic meeting (Express)
• Senators: Kosovo, Serbia to reach agreement on implementation annex (media)
• Osmani meets Rohde, discuss recent meetings in Brussels (media)
• Hovenier: EU proposal is temporary package; long-term goal is mutual recognition (media)
• NATO calls for further progress in talks between Belgrade and Pristina (media)
• Abazovic meets Kurti; offers support for durable support for region (media)
• ETIAS launch date postponement won’t affect Kosovo visa liberalisation, EU official confirms (schengenvisa.info)
• Victims names made public in former KLA leaders trial (Prishtina Insight)
• Transferring court cases from Mitrovica will harm Kosovo justice, lawyers say (BIRN)
• Court orders preextradition arrest of Serbian war criminal suspect (Budapest Time)
• Turkish couple facing deportation to Kosovo win Swiss asylum (BIRN)

Kurti reacts to Vucic's remarks he will oppose Kosovo’s UN membership (media)

Kosovo Prime Minister Albin Kurti reacted on Wednesday to a statement by Serbian President Aleksandar Vucic that he would oppose Kosovo’s membership in the United Nations.

“Serbia’s President vowed last night to oppose Kosova’s membership in the UN. This would constitute a clear breach of Art. 4 of the EU proposal. Normalization of relations is possible only if both parties negotiate in good faith. Serbia has apparently decided not to do so,” Kurti tweeted.

Lajcak reveals location of next Borrell-Kurti-Vucic meeting (Express)

The March 18 meeting between Kosovo and Serbia will be held in Ohrid, North Macedonia, EU Special Representative for the dialogue between Kosovo and Serbia, Miroslav Lajcak, said on Wednesday. “Had an excellent meeting with [North Macedonia] Deputy Prime Minister Marichikj. I am grateful for its strong support to the Dialogue and am looking forward to the next Dialogue meeting in Ohrid later this month. We also discussed issues of essence to North Macedonia’s EU future,” Lajcak tweeted after his meeting with Marichikj.

Senators: Kosovo, Serbia to reach agreement on implementation annex (media)

U.S. Senators Jeanne Shaheen (D-NH) and Pete Ricketts (R-NE) Chair and Ranking Member of the Senate Foreign Relations Subcommittee on Europe and Regional Security Cooperation – issued a joint statement with U.S. Senators Thom Tillis (R-NC), Chris Murphy (D-CT), Ron Johnson (R-WI) and Chris Van Hollen (D-MD) after the leaders of Serbia and Kosovo announced an interim agreement to normalize relations and resolve disputes over the use of automobile license plates by the ethnic Serbian minority, a debate that has sparked unrest and exacerbated tensions between the two countries. Shaheen, Tillis and Murphy visited Kosovo and Serbia in April as part of a congressional delegation visit to the Balkans, which also included a stop in Bosnia and Herzegovina.

“We congratulate the governments of Serbia and Kosovo for reaching an interim agreement to normalize relations. This is an important moment for both countries. This progress could unlock important opportunities for Kosovo and Serbia, which include pursuing EU membership and increasing economic integration within the Western Balkans and throughout the world,” said the Senators. “However, both leaders must now come together and reach an agreement on the implementation annex, which will provide a roadmap for normalization between both countries.”

Read more at: https://bit.ly/3EOpj2i

Osmani meets Rohde, discuss recent meetings in Brussels (media)

Kosovo President Vjosa Osmani met on Wednesday with German Ambassador to Kosovo, Jorn Rohde, to discuss the dialogue process and the recent meetings in Brussels between Kosovo and Serbia. Osmani said the meetings mark a positive moment and that “Kosovo has taken some difficult decisions in the spirit of constructive engagement that will contribute to peace and stability in the country and region”. Osmani and Rohde also discussed the Implementation Plan of the European proposal and the next steps that Kosovo institutions will take about this proposal.

Hovenier: EU proposal is temporary package; long-term goal is mutual recognition (media)

United States Ambassador to Kosovo, Jeffrey Hovenier, said in an interview for TV Dukagjini on Wednesday that the European proposal is an important move in the talks between Kosovo and Serbia and that the long-term goal of the United States is for the process to result in mutual recognition between Kosovo and Serbia.

Hovenier said: “I want to say that this is not the last deal, it cannot be … This is a temporary package, a significant move forward that makes the situation much more favorable. But our long-term goal, the long-term goal of the United States remains the same. The US President Joe Biden and the US Secretary of State Antony Blinken referred to it again in their Independence Day messages as recently as last month: that ultimately, we see this process resulting in mutual recognition. We are not talking about eventual mutual recognition being in the center, because it reflects the reality of the situation. But our commitment to this, the assessment has not been diminished.”

NATO calls for further progress in talks between Belgrade and Pristina (media)

NATO Deputy Secretary General, Mircea Geoana, said on Wednesday after a call with EU Special Representative Miroslav Lajcak that NATO remains strongly committed to peace and stability in the Western Balkans. “Good call with EU Special Representative Miroslav Lajcak. We welcome Belgrade and Pristina’s further steps on the path to normalisation and urge further progress. NATO remains strongly committed to peace and stability in the Western Balkans, including through NATO/KFOR,” Geoana tweeted.

Abazovic meets Kurti; offers support for durable support for region (media)

Montenegro Prime Minister Dritan Abazovic met Kosovo Prime Minister Albin Kurti on Wednesday in Skopje. “Montenegro provides its full support for a durable solution for the region.  Today I spoke with the Prime Minister of Kosovo @albinkurti about our better infrastructure connectivity, new ideas and improving the quality of life of citizens. We continue to cherish good neighborly relations,” Abazovic tweeted after the meeting.

ETIAS launch date postponement won’t affect Kosovo visa liberalisation, EU official confirms (schengenvisa.info)

The postponing of the European Travel Information and Authorisation System (ETIAS) launch date will not affect the date when Kosovo citizens will finally be able to travel visa-free to the 27 Schengen Area countries, an EU official has confirmed for SchengenVisaInfo.com.

The official has also pointed out that the regulation on visa liberalisation for Kosovo will be put for adoption by the Council at the meeting set to be held next week, on March 9.

“Once the text is adopted by both the Council and the European Parliament, the exemption from the visa requirement will apply from the date on which ETIAS starts operations or from January 1, 2024, whichever date comes first,” the official said on March 1, in an exchange of emails with SchengenVisaInfo.com.

This means that though the ETIAS will not become effective on November 1, as it was previously scheduled, but rather some time by the middle of 2024, the citizens of the Republic of Kosovo will be able to travel visa-free to the Schengen Area starting from January 1, next year.

Last week, it was reported that the ETIAS roll out date had been changed on the website of the EU Commission’s Migration and Home Affairs from November 2023 to only 2024.

Read more at: https://bit.ly/3y25ReE

Victims names made public in former KLA leaders trial (Prishtina Insight)

The Specialist Prosecutor's Office has published the names of alleged victims in a new version of an indictment against former leaders of the Kosovo Liberation Army held in The Hague.

The Specialist Prosecutor’s Office, (SPO) published the latest version of the indictment against the former leaders of the KLA, Hashim Thaçi, Kadri Veseli, Jakup Krasniqi and Rexhep Selimi, on February 27, 2023.

The names of some of the victims – who are said to have been killed or forcibly disappeared  – have been revealed in the indictment.

According to the indictment, the crimes were committed between March 1998 to September 1999 in several locations in Kosovo, as well as in Kukës and Cahan, in Northern Albania.

The indictment states that these crimes were committed by KLA members against hundreds of civilians and other non-combatants.

The indictment further states that Thaçi, Veseli, Selimi and Krasniqi have individual criminal responsibility for crimes that were committed in the context of a non-international armed conflict in Kosovo and were part of a widespread and systematic attack against persons suspected of being against the KLA.

Read more at: https://bit.ly/3KQHjgi

Transferring court cases from Mitrovica will harm Kosovo justice, lawyers say (BIRN)

The potential transfer of court cases from the Mitrovica Basic Court to other basic courts by the Kosovo Judicial Council, KJC, may harm justice processes, due to difficulties and the increased expenses of parties participating in trials, lawyers say.

“The majority of witnesses are from Mitrovica and the surrounding areas. Obliging a witness to travel to Peja, Gjilan, or Gjakova is mistreatment,” Mitrovica-based lawyer Mahmut Halimi told BIRN.

KJC spokesperson Aishe Qorraj told BIRN that 83 cases from Mitrovica Basic Court will be transferred to the other six Basic Courts of the country: Peja/Pec, Prizren, Gjakovë/Djakovica, Gjilan/Gnjilane, Pristina, and Ferizaj/Urosevac.

This is due to the low number of staff in the Mitrovica Court following the mass resignations of Serbian judges and prosecutors in November last year.

“The absence of 130 officials, including judges and administrative staff of the Basic Court of Mitrovica and its branches in Leposavic and Zubin Potok creates difficulties,” Qorraj told BIRN, explaining that despite this, the court has continued offering services to citizens.

Read more at: https://bit.ly/3KTYJJ7

Court orders preextradition arrest of Serbian war criminal suspect (Budapest Time)

A Budapest court on Wednesday ordered the pre-extradition arrest of a Serbian national suspected of having participated in war crimes committed against civilians during the 1999 Kosovo war. The man is suspected of taking part in the killing of 23 ethnic Albanian civilians in the town of Peja (Pec) in Kosovo in March and May of 1999, the Budapest Municipal Court said in a statement.

International warrants for the man’s arrest were issued by the United Nations’ special envoy to Kosovo and the supreme court of Belgrade, the court said. It noted the justice ministries of both Serbia and Kosovo have issued a formal request for his extradition. The court said that the trial was aimed at verifying whether all conditions of the suspect’s extradition were in place. During his hearing, the suspect consented to his extradition only to Serbia. The pre-extradition arrest will be in effect until mid-April, the court said, adding that it submitted all documents on the case for a final decision to be taken by the justice ministry.

Turkish couple facing deportation to Kosovo win Swiss asylum (BIRN)

A Turkish couple who are members of exiled Turkish preacher Fethullah Gulen’s network were granted asylum in Switzerland on February 10, after facing deportation to Kosovo, BIRN has learned.

“The State Secretariat for Migration recognized X and Y as refugees and granted them asylum. The authors thus no longer run the risk of being sent back to Kosovo,” the Justice Ministry wrote in a letter on February 14 to the UN Committee against Torture, UN CAT, which BIRN has seen.

The ministry added that the decision has been taken in accordance with the UN CAT’s previous advice that Switzerland should not deport the couple to Kosovo, citing a risk that they could be transferred to Turkey and face torture.

“In its decision of 11 November 2022, the UN CAT found that enforcing the removal of X and Y to Kosovo would constitute a violation of Article 3 of the Convention against Torture and other cruel, inhuman and degrading treatment or punishment. The Committee invited Switzerland to inform it, within 90 days of the date of transmission of the above-mentioned findings, of the measures taken in accordance with them,” the ministry wrote.

Ali Yildiz, a lawyer represented the couple to UN CAT, told BIRN that the decision shows “Switzerland acted upon the decision of the Committee Against Torture”.

“Otherwise, Switzerland’s non-compliance with a decision that was adopted by a UN human rights body hosted by Switzerland would be a shame,” he said.

Read more at: https://bit.ly/3L6HGnh